The statutory minimum wage has steadily increased for decades in Japan, while the median wage has fallen nominally since 1999 because of a severe recession. We use large micro-data sets from two government surveys to investigate how the minimum wage has affected the wage distribution under...

Classified broadly, two motives for intra-family transfers exist: altruism and selfishness. This paper examines two selfish hypotheses - the exchange motive (strategic bequest motive)and the demonstration effect - using a new Japanese micro data set. My analysis of the determinants of...

In this paper, we analyze the nature of intra-household allocations and commitment using unique panel data on individual-specific within-household consumption expenditures and on time used for leisure, market production and home production. Specifically we estimate a dynamic collective model of...